Google's Nexus 7 tablet could put out the Fire

Apple gave us a slick new laptop. Microsoft unveiled a nifty tablet, but didn't tell us when we could get it or how much it would cost.

Google? Google jumped out of an airplane.

For the third week in a row, we got product announcements from one of the big players in the biz, this time from Google as the keynote Thursday at its annual developers conference. There is some awesome stuff coming from Google, but the thing that anyone who watched the presentation will remember is that team of skydivers, all wearing prototype Project Glass cameras, jumping from an airplane, landing on the roof of the Moscone Center in San Francisco and, via a Google + Hangout, broadcasting the whole thing without a hitch.

Sure, the market for the Glass headgear -- built like a pair of glasses with a tiny camera mounted in one of the arms -- was the wow moment of the keynote, but the thing we're going to be talking about after that hysteria dies down is Google's first foray into the tablet niche. We were introduced to Nexus 7, a 7-inch tablet that will run the latest version Android software, called Jelly Bean, when it hits the market next month.

The form factor of the Nexus 7, which is manufactured by Asus, seems to be a winner; it will be light (340 grams) and as I've said before, I think the smaller size is a more natural fit than an iPad. And, to the surprise of no one, it's about the same size -- and with a starting price of $199, the same price -- as the Kindle Fire.

And there's the key. It will be interesting to see what the Nexus 7 does against the iPad line, but there's little doubt in my mind that Google had Kindle's Fire tablet in its sights when it came up with the Nexus 7. Google's media consumption options aren't as vast as those Amazon can offer even with the expanded offerings Google announced last week, but the notion of offering a full-service tablet to go up against the simple-but-somewhat-hamstrung Fire is intriguing. Let the fun begin.

People jumping from airplanes and shiny new tablets weren't the only things announced at the Google keynote. Here are a couple of others:

Google Now: An addition to Google's all-encompassing search, Now will pay attention to what you do and where you go, and as it learns more about you, it's going to offer help along the way. As it learns that I take Route 65 for my commute to work, it'll watch traffic conditions and warn me when the backup at the Sewickley Bridge is especially egregious; once it figures out I'm a Browns fan, it'll send me scores as games progress (it may also laugh at me, too. We'll find out more about that in the fall).

Google + Events: The skydiving stuff was impressive, but this one simple thing in the keynote really caught my attention. Say you share an invitation, which you can design using a template or on your own, with people in your Google + circles. Google's year-old social network will automatically keep everyone updated with changes or the list of who's attending.

Sure, Facebook does this already, right? But Google does FB one better: When the event is ongoing, those who are taking pix or video with their G+ device will get an invitation to automatically upload their media to a G+ album for the event in real time. Those who shoot media on actual cameras can easily upload pix to the same album after the fact.

Events is a simple upgrade, but Google's instincts about what people want to do in their social spaces is dead on in this case, and I can't wait to give Events a try.

NOT DONE KICKING FACEBOOK

You may recall a little Facebook controversy earlier in the week when everyone's favorite social network decided it would be OK to change our default email addresses to something that ended with @facebook.com.

Predictably, the reactions weren't good. And that wasn't even the worst thing FB did this week.

Over the weekend, FB began a test of a feature that allowed users to see a list of other FB users who happened to be physically nearby. But FB pulled the plug on the Find Friends Nearby test after just a day or two, after users correctly howled about the privacy issues that arose from the test of a feature that, like the email switcheroo, was unannounced.

As I've said before, I use Foursquare's location-based service. A lot. I'm comfortable with sharing my location there. And I'd guess that my Foursquare friends feel the same way because I know each of the people on my list personally and I've chosen to give them access to that information.

I've never participated in any of FB's location-based services because I can't say the same thing for my FB friends (even though they're all nice people). I'm cautious about that stuff, and with the test of the Find Friends Nearby feature, FB circumvented my caution.

And that's the wrong way to go, FB.

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